DATE                             TOPIC               READING ASSIGNMENT


Monday, Feb 10      Review Midterm Exam #1
                    Stars: The Sun                        Chapter 14
                    What we know from naked eye observations
                    The surface of the Sun

Wednesday, Feb. 12  Stellar Structure: The Sun            Chapter 15
                      Pressure and Gravity                section 15.3
                      Energy Source (nuclear fusion)      section 15.1,2
                      Energy Loss (radiation & convection)section 15.3
                    Homework #4, due Wednesday, Feb. 19

Monday, Feb. 17     Stellar Structure (continued)
                      Structure         
                         Determined by two balance conditions:
                           pressure and gravity           section 15.1
                           energy generation and loss 
                      Tests:
                           oscillations (helioseismology),section 15.4
                           neutrino experiments           section 15.4

Wednesday, Feb. 19  Light (again)                         Chapters 4,5 
                    We learn about the universe by analyzing light.
                    Review: light is electromagnetic wave,section 4.1
                      with frequency(f), period(P), & wavelength(lamda)
                      propogates at speed of light c
                      lambda = cP = c/f, f = 1/P
                      Light is stream of particles (photons)
                      with energy (e) and wavelength and frequency
                      ephoton=hf=hc/lambda
                    Review: atoms-electrons orbit nucleus,section 4.4
                    Emission & absorption of light        section 4.2,5 
                    Thermal radiation                     section 4.2
                       Hotter -> Bluer
                       Hotter -> Brighter
                       Larger -> Brighter
                    Telescopes = collect photons          chapter 5
                    Homework #4, due NOW
                    Homework #5, due Wednesday, Feb. 26

Monday, Feb. 24     Observing Stars                       Chapters 16,17,18 
                      Luminosity = rate of energy loss 
                         Brightness                       section 16.1
                           farther = fainter
                         Distances by parallax            section 18.2          
                         Number - luminosity relation
                      Surface temperature of stars        sections 16.2-3
                         Color -> temperature
                         Spectra -> temperature, 
                                    composition (abundances),
                                    & density
                      Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram         section 17.4, 
                                                          Figs 17.15,16
                      mass of stars                       section 17.2
                         binary stars, Doppler shift      section 4.6
                         mass/luminosity relation         Figure 17.10

Wednesday, Feb. 26  Stellar Evolution                     Chapters 20-23
                      Birth                               section 20.1,2
                      Maturity: core hydrogen fusion,
                        The Main Sequence                 section 21.1
                      Driven by:
                        Loss of energy to space
                        Reduction in number of nuclei by fusion
                      Old Age as a Red Giant              Chapter 21
                      Dependence on Mass                  Figure 21.4
                      Tests: star clusters                section 21.3
                    Homework #5, due NOW

Monday, March 10    Stellar Evolution (continued)
                      Death of stars                      Chapters 22,23
                        White Dwarfs                      section 22.1
                        Supernovae & nucleosynthesis      section 22.2

Wednesday, March 12 Death of Stars (continued)
                        Neutron Stars (pulsars)           section 22.3
                        Black Holes                       section 23.5
                    Quiz #2 (warmup for Exam 2)
                    Chapters  4,14-23

Monday, March 17    Review: Chapters 4, 14-23

Wednesday, March 19 Mid-Term Exam #2, Unit II: Stars 
                    Chapters 4, 14-23

1. Describe the structure of an atom. Describe the relation between temperature and motion.
2. Describe the relationship between type of light, wavelength, energy of photon and temperature of the source of the light.
   
3. Describe the process of absorption and emission of photons by atoms.
4. Describe how to measure a star's luminosity, brightness, distance, mass and surface temperature.
5. Use stellar spectra to determine the surface temperature and abundances of stars.
6. Explain the relations between pressure, temperature and density in terms of collisions between atoms, ions and electrons.
7. Describe how astronomers concluded that the source of stars' energy was thermonuclear reactions.
8. Describe the relation between a star's luminosity and its insulating ability. Describe how the insulating ability depends on the ease with which photons can trave from the center to the surface of the star.
9. Describe how the balances between gravity and pressure, and between energy loss and supply maintain a star's equilibrium structure.
10. Describe how models of stellar structure are tested.
11. Explain the evolution of a star in terms of loss of energy to space, consumption of nuclear fuel, upsets in the equilibrium balance conditions and gravitational contraction.
12. Describe the sequence of evolutionary stages of a star and how they depend on the mass of the star. Describe the properties of stars in different evolutionary stages: pre-main sequence, main sequence, red giant, white dwarf, supernova, neutron star and black hole.
13. Be able to plot a Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram, and locate the regions of giant, main sequence and white dwarf stars. Describe the relations between surface temperature, luminosity, mass and size for these three types of stars.
    Describe the evolutionary state of the 16 brightest northern-hemisphere stars.

Visions of the Universe